The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.

From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Make use of the Bible in diplomacy - Dror Eydar

by Dror Eydar

It looks like the
Africans still haven't been corrupted by the common diplomatic
discourse, which has been cleaned of any religious, historical, or
cultural content.

Ugandan President
Yoweri Museveni's speech at Entebbe at a ceremony marking 40 years since
Operation Jonathan met with smirks and laughter. He didn't remember the
name of former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but what's so bad
about that? Let Ahmadinejad rot. He also got mixed up between Lord
Arthur Balfour and Joseph Chamberlain, the British colonial secretary
who suggested to Theodor Herzl that the Jews be repatriated to East
Africa under what was known as the "Uganda scheme." Fine. But unlike the
wave of laughter, the speech was far from "delusional." In effect, it
illustrated the element lacking in Israel's foreign policy: using
religious language and thinking as another valuable tool in the
diplomatic arsenal. Given the growing religious extremism we face in
global Islam, it's particularly important to find common ground between
the State of Israel and the Jewish people and the various forms of
Christianity, as well as with the moderate leaders and streams of Islam.
The people who laughed at the Ugandan president were laughing at
themselves.

Here is a key sentence
from the speech, which evaded the attention of pundits: "On the issue of
Israel/Palestine, we in Uganda are guided by the Bible." What do you
think about that? Throughout his entire speech, Museveni made reference
to the Bible. He could have focused on the Entebbe operation alone, the
differences between justified battle and despicable terrorism, said a
few words of congratulations and it would have been sufficient. That's
how an American or European leader would have behaved. It looks like the
Africans still haven't been corrupted by the common diplomatic
discourse, which has been cleaned of any religious, historical, or
cultural content.

The Ugandan president
ranked the rescue of the Entebbe hostages along with other biblical and
historical events that linked Africa to the Jewish people and the Middle
East in similar circumstances: Distress that turned into salvation. The
story of Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers and taken
from Canaan (the land of Israel) to Egypt (which is Africa). As a devout
Christian, there is great significance to the connection Museveni drew
between the hostages being rescued and the baby Jesus being rescued from
Herod's soldiers and being given shelter in Egypt until it was safe to
return, as related in the New Testament (Matthew 2).

The president even
enlisted Muhammad's flight from Mecca was compared to the rescue of the
Israeli hostages. He might have confused the first and second hijras,
but the principle is what matters. In 614, Muhammad's followers "came
out" as Muslims. After a year of persecution by the pagan establishment
in Mecca, Muhammad sent about 100 of his followers to the king of
Ethiopia, a Christian, who gave them amnesty until 622, until they
joined the second hijra, when the prophet of Islam left Mecca for
Medina.

The president also
countered the lies of his counterparts in Arab states and Iran that the
Jews are strangers in their own land and in the Middle East "because
they came from Europe" be pulling out a Bible and quoting Genesis 11:31:
"Terah took Abram his grandson ... and they went forth together from Ur
of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to
Haran, they settled there." You see, Museveni told Ahmadinejad, the Jews
absolutely belong to the region. They came from Mesopotamia and settled
in Haran and later in Canaan; just like you, the Iranians, are
perpetuating the Persian Empire that appears in the Bible.

Museveni used Abraham's
two wives: Sarah, the matriarch of the Jews and Hagar, the matriarch of
the Muslims, to propose a solution for the conflict between us and the
Arabs. Both peoples, he said, belong to the region. He determined that
attempts to compare Israel to South Africa under apartheid rule were
nonsense, that the two countries were "totally different stories," and
offered his services as a go-between on the mission to achieve peace.

The same parts of
Israeli media (and politics) that are devoid of knowledge of Jewish
texts and religious issues scorned what looked like a mixture of
politics and myth, just like intellectuals in Europe dismissed the
Islamist religious awakening in their streets.

But anyone who is well-versed in the our
people's ancient knowledge and spirit realizes the great potential that
lies before Israeli statesmen (and also people in trade and economics)
if they bring in the religious dimension as more common ground with
their colleagues in the world. Israel renewing its relations with
African nations is crucial historic event that could help break down the
diplomatic wall that Israel's enemies have worked to build against it.
The Israelis came to the memorial event at Entebbe, but the president of
Uganda and many Africans along with him saw the representatives of the
historic Jewish people, the people of the Bible. Only a blind person
could miss this opportunity.

Dror EydarSource: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=16617 Follow Middle East and Terrorism on TwitterCopyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.